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Month: August 2012

Arab traders introduced opium to China during the 9th and 10th centuries by way of camel. But by the 1400s when ships starting sailing to the East, the opium trade became quite lucrative. By the late 1700s, England’s East India Company was sending massive quantities of opium to China. The drug caused horrific devastation to Chinese society, so much so that the Chinese went to war with England in 1839 to put a stop to it.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the historical series, The Lion’s Trace Available here:

Dedicated to Zeus, god of moral law and order and god of the elements with his iconic thunderbolt, the ancient Olympic games were religious in nature. The original Greek athletes were amateurs and the part they played in Hellenist culture was to spread the idea that practicing sports and physical games was good for the body and led to a harmonious lifestyle just as eating fresh healthy foods and sleeping well bring us a higher standard of living. Though the ancient Olympian athletes excelled at their sport, they were only amateurs. But excelling at an Olympic game was highly celebrated, boosting one’s notoriety in their Greek community. But history shows that when the Roman Empire conquered the European world (including the Olympic games), the religious aspect was dropped and the athletes were no longer the village youth who excelled but the most professional athletes the Romans could recruit from their vast Roman Empire beginning a new era exhibiting the Roman style of savage sport that was the norm at the Roman Colosseum where massive crowds cheered and gamblers placed their bets.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the historical series, The Lion’s Trace Available here:

“Jim Crow” is an expression used to refer to customs and laws that oppress African Americans. Jim Crow was a down on his luck black man who may not have been a real character. Songs were written about Jim Crow and white entertainers with blackface appeared in minstrel shows depicting him.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the historical series, The Lion’s Trace Available here: